Kong reaches its climactic conclusion

Peter Jackson has been filming the final scenes in King Kong, where the giant ape battles biplanes atop the Empire State Building. Website kongisking.net (see link below) shows Jackson shooting scenes at his studios in Wellington's Miramar of a pilot and gunner, in a 1930s replica plane.

The replica of the American naval Curtis Helldiver fighter - seen in the original 1933 film - had to be built from scratch using plans from the Smithsonian Institution in the United States. After filming is completed, the replica will go on display in a $3 million aviation museum at the Omaka Aerodrome, near Blenheim.